The submissions included handwritten lists with ambitious goals to run three miles a day, worry less, eat organic food, pay off loans, read a dozen books and more. Others were photos of activities and habits planned for the new year.

We've featured some of our favorites below. Take a look, and then check out the full gallery here.

Photo Challenge: New Year's Resolutions

1. Resolution to Run

2. Bottle Full of Goals

"For our new years resolution last year we wrote down our small goals and placed them in this bottle. We will open it on New Years day to see if we've accomplished our goals. Looks like Riley approves this method."

4. Resolution to Adventure More

5. Handwritten List

6. Resolution to Cook More Meals at Home

"My New Years resolution is to save money and cook more at home. Here's my first attempt. Tilapia marinaded with honey and fresh squeezed orange juice, spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette, and a baked sweet potato. Pretty tasty!"

When your subject alone doesn't get the message across, photograph it against a relevant background

Don't use flash when taking photos through a closed window

Flash will reflect off a glass window, so it's likely that your photo will look like one giant beam of light. Since that isn't what you want, get close to your window and shoot without flash, or open your window for an even clearer view without reflections.

Digital photographs don't always have to be all digital

Get creative with your diptychs -- if you want to add an old-school touch, you can combine two Polaroid or Fujifilm Instax Mini images.

Find a good point of interest to be the center in a symmetrical photo

It can be hard to perfect symmetry in a photo -- often times you'll find that there is an uneven weight distribution in your shot. When this happens, look for a point of interest and make it the center of your photo -- then balancing both sides will become a lot easier.

A great photo has an interesting foreground as well as a beautiful background.

When guest curator Andreas Wonisch shoots skyscape photos, he makes sure to include part of the landscape as well. "It works wonders to show something interesting in the foreground to lead into the rest of the image."

Wait for the perfect moment to capture a photo

When guest curator Victor Bezrukov photographs shadows, he makes sure to wait for the perfect moment to click his shutter. "The bicycle was already tied when I found it, but the challenge was to wait to catch the strong light of the passing cars," he said.

Look for vibrant colors when photographing food

When guest curator Marla Meridith photographs food for her food and lifestyle blog, she looks for the best ingredients and the most colorful settings. "Find the freshest, most vibrant ingredients," she says. "And don't be afraid to carefully color enhance!"

Use presets in editing software to learn about all of the elements of editing

Guest curator Vivienne Gucwa uses Lightroom, the Nik Software Suite and VSCO to edit her non-mobile photographs. "Try to notice all of the editing functions that change for each preset," she says. "Then play around with each function to understand the effect it can have on your photography."

Overediting will make your photograph misrepresent the scene

When editing his photos, guest curator Paul R. Giunta only tweaks the exposure, white balance, and contrast. "I never touch the sharpen slider or saturation," he says. "I want the photographs to represent exactly what it looked like during the show."

If you're using a DSLR, shoot your photographs in RAW format.

Guest curator Kim Landgraf uses Adobe Lightroom and Silver Efex Pro 2 to edit his photos after shooting in RAW. "The RAW format gives you much more freedom for editing afterwards," he says.

Use perspectives to your advantage

Guest curator David Gamboa takes amazing #jumpstagrams in unique settings. "Shooting from very low, at eye-level and high up can alter a photo in crazy ways," he says. "Try some of them out and see what I mean."

Make subtle adjustments that are right for your photos

Guest curator Adam Senatori, who specializes in aerial photography, makes subtle adjustments to his photos before publishing them. "Adjusting color temperature and contrast are critical to any photo," he says. "But I use most adjustments sparingly, never overdo anything! Subtle is best." He also believes photos taken on an iPhone require different edits than photos taken on a DSLR. "For the iPhone I typically bump up the temp," he says. "I feel that native iPhone shots are on the cool side."

For great silhouette photos, expose for the sky and use the Sun.

When photographing silhouettes, it can be easy to accidentally overexpose your scene. Guest curator Nicole S. Young uses specific techniques to make sure this doesn't happen. "If your metering mode is set to something such as 'spot metering,' then you'll end up exposing for the subject and overexposing your sky," she said. "So you will need to do one of two things: underexpose your photograph (this will make your subject black and your sky properly exposed), or pre-focus the camera and point it at the sky so it meters for the light in the sky, and not the light from your subject."

Highlight the background to bring out the subject in a splash shot

Guest curator Alex Koloskov specializes in splash photography. "To get a decent splash shot with only one light source, use clear water (or any other clear liquid) and highlight the background, not the splash itself," he says.

Use different techniques to create a sense of depth in a two-dimensional style photo

Guest curator Rose Sauquillo takes a lot of shots of walls head-on, but still manages to give them a sense of depth. "Depth can be achieved by adding a vignette, making a colorful subject the focal point, how you compose the shot, or through lighting," she says.

Use wearable cameras to take action shots

Our guest curator Zak Shelhamer says timing and composition are key elements in good photography. You can use wearable cameras such as the GoPro, the JVC ADIXXION, or the Sony Action Cam to take perfectly timed shots of yourself in action. "Your photos should be able to show viewers what you're seeing and what it feels like to be where you are," Shelhamer says.

A big key to success is shooting a lot and posting a little

Our guest curator Timmy McGurr takes hundreds of photos at a time, but is very selective when choosing his final few to publish. "Just because you shoot a bunch of images from a bunch of different angles doesn't mean you need to post it all," he says. "Learning how to edit and how to decipher what to publish and what not publish is just as important."

Add effects to your photos to make them more whimsical

Dave Fung and Yena Kim, co-founders of Menswear Dog, use programs and apps like Photoshop, Camera+, Instagram and Hipstamatic regularly. "Effects can make a quirky photo even more whimsical by giving it a vintage feel," they say. "Any number of filters and effects in Camera+ and Photoshop can achieve this."

You can take long exposure shots on your smartphone

Guest curator Finn Beales does freelance photography often using just his iPhone. He uses Average Camera Pro and Slow Shutter Cam to take long exposure shots, and then VSCO Cam and AfterLight to add finishing touches to his photos. "Because of the long exposure time, you shouldn't hold your phone in your hands," he says. "Either use a tripod or lean it against something to get sharp results."

Don't overlook anything

Guest curater Dylan Isbell makes sure to steer away from the obvious and capture the things that might be a bit hidden. "Look up, down… all around," he says. "Also look beyond the reflection of yourself to see what play in front and behind you."

Consistency is key

Our guest curator Matt Lutton values consistency when he photographs. He uses the same programs each time he edits his photos in order to maintain similar colors and movement. "I try to be as consistent with editing and toning as possible," he says. "These two photos were taken months and hundreds of miles apart, but when next to each other they evoke the same feelings and emotions."

Light makes the photograph

Our Mashable Photo Challenge guest curator Kevin Truong believes light is everything in photography. "Whether it's soft or harsh, from a window or a flash, when used effectively it can beautifully set the mood for the photograph," he says.

Use AfterLight and Over to add beautiful filters and fun text to your photos.

Our guest curator Liz Eswein uses two apps to apply filters and text to some of her Instagram photos. Liz says, "One of my favorite editing apps is AfterLight -- it provides such a great array of filters! Also, Over is one of my favorites -- great fonts and steedicons to use on your photos."

Guest curator Brian Difeo uses Snapseed to adjust contrast, sharpness and saturation on his photos before posting them to Instagram. Brian says, "I take photos in the iPhone native app, and I take a LOT of photos so I have many options. In the native app I'll tap the screen to adjust the focus and exposure, and take some photos in HDR too. This way I have variety of photos to choose from before I edit and share on Instagram."

Base your photos around a unique theme

Murad Ossmann has an Instagram following of almost 270,000, and his feed is full of stunning pictures based on the theme "Follow Me." These photos put a new spin on the traditional travel photo: instead of only photographing landmarks, he features his girlfriend leading him around the world by the hand.

Experiment with natural light

One of our guest curators, Santiago PerezGrovas uses natural light to shoot his photos. What began as a limitation (he didn't know how to uses professional flashes) became his signature style.

"In a world of perfection, the production of the photos we see everyday is overwhelming, to the point that everything has to be flawless," says Santiago. "I limit myself to use a simple camera, a model and the available light at the moment."

The winner of the Photo Challenge SeriesDan Evans, Jr., says to use Elements for basic adjustments like cropping, color, contrast and brightness. It is also sophisticated enough to creatively alter a photo without being too complicated.

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